1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a character information printing apparatus having a function of printing inputted character information on a small print medium. The present invention relates particularly to a tape printing apparatus which is adapted to print inputted character string on a tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tape printing apparatus is designed to enable the user to easily prepare a label originated by the user which is to be adhered on, for example, the spine cover of a document file.
A conventional tape printing apparatus has an operation key or the like provided on an operator panel and adapted to input characters so that a desired character string can be previously inputted by operating the operation key. Also, the apparatus also has a tape feeding mechanism so that a tape can be fed and discharged through a tape discharging outlet. Further, the apparatus has a printing mechanism, including a thermal head, and a tape cutting mechanism provided in this order on the path for allowing the tape to be fed.
In the tape printing apparatus, when a print operation key is operated, under the control of control means, the tape is fed at a predetermined speed by the tape feeding mechanism, and a previously inputted character string is printed by the printing mechanism on the tape thus fed. Also, when printing the character string is completed, under the control of the control means, the tape feeding mechanism is further controlled to continue to feed the tape (i.e., to feed the tape without performing printing on the tape) until the printed portion of the tape is positioned outside the apparatus.
After feeding of the tape is completed, the tape is cut by the user with the tape cutting mechanism so that a label originated by the user having thereon a desired character string can be obtained.
Meanwhile, recently available tape printing apparatuses are designed to treat various tape widths, and they almost meet user's needs regarding tape width.
However, in some cases the user needs to obtain a label having a width larger than the maximum width provided by the tape printing apparatus.
An option to meet such a user's need is to provide a tape printing apparatus capable of treating all the possible tape widths wider than the maximum width. However, this option has a disadvantage that it is not economical to construct a tape printing apparatus in which tape widths rarely used are also taken into consideration.
Another option to meet the user's need while solving the disadvantage of the above option is to provide a printing apparatus having a function of enlargement printing. In the enlargement printing, an enlarged character string is printed on a tape, and the tape is divided into N tape portions by cutting the tape along lines perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tape. Thereafter, the N tape portions thus obtained are positioned contiguously in the transversal direction thereof (i.e., the tape portions are arranged in such a manner that the tape portions contact with each other in respective longitudinal edges thereof), to thereby obtain a quasi label having a width N times that of the tape loaded in the apparatus and having thereon the enlarged characters thus printed. In the case of, for example, twofold-enlargement printing (i.e., printing in an enlargement multiple of 2) as shown in FIG. 2A, the upper portion MU of an enlarged character string is firstly printed on the tape T, a margin having a predetermined width is formed on the tape, and then the lower portion ML of the enlarged character string is printed.
Incidentally, in a tape printing apparatus designed for mainly preparing a label, in normal printing, upper and lower margins are formed along the longitudinal edges of the tape in order to impart smart appearance. In order to obtain such margins, the print allowable width of the printing head is made smaller than the tape width. Also in the enlargement printing, it is preferred to employ such a configuration as to make the print allowable width of the printing head smaller than the tape width since employing the configuration makes it unnecessary to change the driving mechanism for driving the printing head. When such a configuration as to make the print allowable width smaller than the tape width is also employed in the enlargement printing, the upper and lower margins as shown in FIG. 2A are formed.
After the above-mentioned enlargement printing is completed, the tape T is divided into two tape portions, i.e., the front tape portion T1 and the rear tape portion T2 (see FIG. 2B), the upper and lower margins thus formed during the enlargement printing operation are cut off, and then the tape portions T1 and T2 are positioned contiguously in the transversal direction thereof. Thus, a large label having a width larger than that of the tape is obtained. Incidentally, the label obtained in this manner will be sometimes referred to "quasi label" hereinafter.
Meanwhile, in the process of obtaining a label (quasi label) through enlargement printing, when the tape portions, each having thereon a divided portion of the enlarged character string, are adhered contiguously in the transversal direction thereof, it is necessary to precisely position them to obtain a satisfactory label.
However, if the tape is long (that is, the tape has an extremely large dimension in only one direction), it is difficult to adhere such a long tape since such a long tape is liable to be distorted or twisted. Accordingly, it is quite difficult to adhere a plurality of tape portions while arranging them at appropriate positions without distorting or twisting them. Consequently, when preparing the quasi label obtained by adhering a plurality of tape portions, each having thereon divided enlarged character strings, the user is liable to mistakenly adhere the tape portions so that the quality of the quasi label becomes unfavorably deteriorated. In the case of enlargement printing, when the user mistakenly adheres the tape portions, a large amount of tape is vainly consumed since even the tape portions successfully adhered need to be printed and adhered again.
Further, in the tape printing apparatus, since the print amount in the longitudinal direction of the tape can be arbitrarily determined, if the allowable number of characters about an inputted text file is set to be large, the print amount in the longitudinal direction of the tape may become very large.
Thus, when adhering a very long tape (label), even though the number of tape is one, the user is liable to mistakenly adhere it at a high probability because the long tape is liable to be distorted or twisted, so that the quality of the adhered label is unfavorably lowered.
Under the above-mentioned circumstances, there is a need for a character information printing apparatus which can easily cure deterioration in print quality occurring in a part of the print resultant, or can prevent quality deterioration in part of the print resultant.